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The bones bear teeth marks on them, suggesting predators had brought back their prey to the cave, he added.

"We have seen an almost untouched vault where those predators once feasted. And there is also hope that we will find human traces there as well. But so far these are just assumptions," he said.

The discovery was made about 10 km east of Sevastopol on a road under construction that will stretch from the west of the Black Sea peninsula to Kerch in the east, which was connected this year to Russia by a new bridge.

The peninsula of Crimea is recognized internationally as part of Ukraine, although it has been largely integrated into Russia after Moscow annexed the territory in 2014.

Gennady Samokhin, chairman of Russia's speleologists' union, said work on the road had been halted temporarily.

"A decision was made that until we have final findings on the scientific value, until finding out how big or small the cavities below the road are — any construction works in this area are temporarily halted," he said.